Laid-open application WO 02/41671 A2 describes a lighting system having a number of lamp operating means and a central control device for the lamp operating means, the lamp operating means having addressable interfaces via which digital data are communicated to the central control device. This communication is performed in accordance with the standardized so-called DALI protocol. The abbreviation DALI stands for Digital Addressable Lighting-Interface.
A disadvantage of the lighting systems whose central control devices communicate with the lamp operating means in accordance with the DALI protocol is that their address store is limited to sixty-four individual addresses and sixteen group addresses. Moreover, the maximum current carrying capacity of the interface of the central control device is only 250 mA. The maximum number of the lamp operating means that can be connected to the central control device is thereby correspondingly limited.